ST HELENA, California – The Texas A&M men's tennis team picked up four wins to open the 2017-18 season at the Napa Valley Tennis Classic at the Meadowood Resort in St. Helena, Ca. Joining the Aggies at the Napa Valley showdown are players from Baylor, North Carolina, Southern Cal, Tulsa and host-school Cal along with 8 USTA junior players as competition will last through Sunday.
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No. 108 AJ Catanzariti picked up his first ranked win of the season after defeating No. 104 Alex Lebedev of Notre Dame in three sets. No. 93 Valentin Vacherot joined Catanzariti in the win column, outlasting Nathan Han of the USTA High Performance Team 4-6, 6-0, 7-6(3). The Maroon & White clad duo partnered up to defeat Keenan Mayo and Axel Nefve from the USTA.
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"It's always good to start the season off with a tournament like this because it lets you get the rust off and play freely," Catanzariti said. "To get wins out here only builds confidence for the rest of the season."
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Juan Carlos Aguilar represented the Aggies for the first time in his collegiate career, dropping a 6-4, 6-4 decision to Jochen Bertcsh of Oklahoma. The freshman partnered with freshman Tadiwa Chinamo of Pacific to defeat Andrew Dale and Andres Martin of the High Performance team.
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"I thought AJ was very sharp today and showed his senior leadership but I was very happy with how everyone competed," Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. "This is a quality field to open the season against I am looking forward to seeing how the rest of the weekend plays out."
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Singles play in California will consist of eight groups of four players (three college players and one USTA player) playing a round robin of one match per day that began Friday morning. Group winners will be entered in an eight man tie-breaker shootout draw on Sunday. The Shootout winner will receive a main draw Napa Valley Challenger wild card entry. Additionally, each player will compete in two double matches, one match each day on Friday and Saturday.
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The Napa Valley Classic was founded as a collaborative effort on the part of Cal-Berkeley Head Coach Peter Wright and Meadowood Tennis Pro Doug King to bring exciting, top-rated tennis to the Napa Valley.
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The Aggies are looking forward to another successful year after the team finished the 2016-17 season ranked No. 14 in the ITA poll and advancing to the Round of 16 in Athens. The Maroon & White return to the courts this fall with an impressive slate of tournaments including the ITA All-American in Tulsa and ITA Indoor Championships in New York.
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Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M men's tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M men's tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieMTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieMensTennis.
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2017 Napa Valley Tennis Classic
St. Helena, CA
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Day One Results
Jochen Bertsch (OU) def. Juan Carlos Aguilar (TAMU) 6-4, 6-4
No. 108 AJ Cantanzariti (TAMU) def. No. 104 Alex Lebedev (ND) 6-4, 6-7(8), 6-1
No. 93 Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) def. Nathan Han (USTA) 4-6, 6-0, 7-6(3)
Catanzariti/Vacherot (TAMU) def. Keenan Mayo/Axel Nefve (USTA) 6-4
Aguilar/Tadiwa Chinamo (TAMU /Pacific) def. Andrew Dale/Andres Martin (USTA) 6-3
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No. 108 AJ Catanzariti picked up his first ranked win of the season after defeating No. 104 Alex Lebedev of Notre Dame in three sets. No. 93 Valentin Vacherot joined Catanzariti in the win column, outlasting Nathan Han of the USTA High Performance Team 4-6, 6-0, 7-6(3). The Maroon & White clad duo partnered up to defeat Keenan Mayo and Axel Nefve from the USTA.
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"It's always good to start the season off with a tournament like this because it lets you get the rust off and play freely," Catanzariti said. "To get wins out here only builds confidence for the rest of the season."
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Juan Carlos Aguilar represented the Aggies for the first time in his collegiate career, dropping a 6-4, 6-4 decision to Jochen Bertcsh of Oklahoma. The freshman partnered with freshman Tadiwa Chinamo of Pacific to defeat Andrew Dale and Andres Martin of the High Performance team.
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"I thought AJ was very sharp today and showed his senior leadership but I was very happy with how everyone competed," Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. "This is a quality field to open the season against I am looking forward to seeing how the rest of the weekend plays out."
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Singles play in California will consist of eight groups of four players (three college players and one USTA player) playing a round robin of one match per day that began Friday morning. Group winners will be entered in an eight man tie-breaker shootout draw on Sunday. The Shootout winner will receive a main draw Napa Valley Challenger wild card entry. Additionally, each player will compete in two double matches, one match each day on Friday and Saturday.
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The Napa Valley Classic was founded as a collaborative effort on the part of Cal-Berkeley Head Coach Peter Wright and Meadowood Tennis Pro Doug King to bring exciting, top-rated tennis to the Napa Valley.
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The Aggies are looking forward to another successful year after the team finished the 2016-17 season ranked No. 14 in the ITA poll and advancing to the Round of 16 in Athens. The Maroon & White return to the courts this fall with an impressive slate of tournaments including the ITA All-American in Tulsa and ITA Indoor Championships in New York.
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Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M men's tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M men's tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieMTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieMensTennis.
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2017 Napa Valley Tennis Classic
St. Helena, CA
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Day One Results
Jochen Bertsch (OU) def. Juan Carlos Aguilar (TAMU) 6-4, 6-4
No. 108 AJ Cantanzariti (TAMU) def. No. 104 Alex Lebedev (ND) 6-4, 6-7(8), 6-1
No. 93 Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) def. Nathan Han (USTA) 4-6, 6-0, 7-6(3)
Catanzariti/Vacherot (TAMU) def. Keenan Mayo/Axel Nefve (USTA) 6-4
Aguilar/Tadiwa Chinamo (TAMU /Pacific) def. Andrew Dale/Andres Martin (USTA) 6-3